There is Never a Tuk Tuk Around When You Need One!

We moved on to Chiang Rai via the local bus and it dropped us on the side of the road in town after dark. We booked a room in advance so now all we had to do was find it! Since we were tired, we hired a Tuk Tuk for the job and arrived at Baan Soontree Hotel. Since it was dark we couldn't really see the place, but we did find that is was the most comfortable bed we had slept in yet!



In the morning we woke up to find the hotel was very charming with a nice pool. Breakfast was included with our room so we went to the "restaurant" and sat down. Ten minutes later we were served cheese omelets with hotdogs even though nobody had come by to ask what we would like. It actually is something we've been seeing a lot of here in Asia. They love hotdogs!



We then decided that renting bicycles to explore town would be a good idea... until we saw them! But we had already paid for them, so we rode them into town. This was the first time that Mattie had to "drive" on the wrong side of the road, so that was interesting. And then there was the crossing a "highway" on a bike... But we made it!






There wasn't a lot to see in town, especially because it was a Sunday and pretty much everything is closed on Sundays. So, we went back to the hotel to catch a Tuk Tuk to Wat Rong Koom aka The White Temple. We would have taken the bikes, as was the original plan, but the White Temple is about 10-15km outside of town, and as I said before, our bikes weren't of the highest quality.



The White Temple was built in the late nineties by a local artist who paid for it all. It's made out of white stucco and tiny glass mirrors, so it sparkles and glitters in the sunlight. Even the fish in the pond out front were white!









We weren't allowed to take photos inside the actual Temple, but the walls had some strange things you wouldn't think would be on the walls of a temple... Like Superman and Star Wars characters!


They light this part up red at night.


We has lunch at a local noodle stand and headed back to spend the rest of the day poolside!



Once the sun went down, we once again ventured into town on the bikes to find some yummy grub at the local night market. This night market was probably the coolest one we have seen so far. All of the food people are in a courtyard type place so it makes it easy for deciding what you want! Some other travelers "warned" us to eat where the wooden tables are, instead of the plastic yellow tables. I'm really glad we didn't listen! The food was fantastic and super cheap! Julian even got a pretty decent chicken burrito by a lady that lived in the US for 40 years.



Some local fare we DIDN'T try!





After dinner, we went to see the "show" at the clock tower in the center of town. Music was played and the tower changed colors...



The next morning we were planning on taking the first local bus out of Chiang Rai to Chiang Khong to cross the border into Loas. That first bus left at 6am! So before we went to bed, we had the front desk schedule us a taxi to come pick us up and take us to the bus station at 5:15am. So we are out front at 5:15 and wait until 5:20. Still no sign of the taxi, so we set off on foot hoping to pass the taxi on the way out to the main street! No such luck! And of course the Tuk Tuk drivers aren't up yet so we can't catch one of those either!



Luckily, we ended up making it on time for the bus with a few minutes to spare and I'm really glad because people that were late ended up having to stand for hours!

Laos here we come!

- Mattie and Julian

Location:Chiang Rai, Thailand